Museum of Architecture of Ancient Pereyaslav

The Museum of Architecture of Old Rus Pereiaslav was opened in May 1982 in a pavilion built over the remains of a unique archaeological monument – the 11th-century Cathedral of Archangel Michael.

The museum was opened during the celebration of Kyiv’s 1,500th anniversary. Over the remains of St Michael’s Cathedral, a semi-basement-type pavilion was built to a design by director Mykhailo Ivanovych Sikorsky and the museum’s experienced restorer Fedir Fedorovych Darda. It covered the northern part of the cathedral with the annex to the north wall and the western narthex. The remaining uncovered parts of the ancient church were backfilled with earth. Later the outline of the cathedral along its perimeter was traced on the modern surface with stone masonry using rows of brick made after samples of Old Rus plinthos.

The building houses an exhibition based on materials related to the Old Rus architecture of Pereiaslav Rusky, the museum of the history of architecture of Old Rus Pereiaslav.